Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to artificial fingernails. More particularly, this invention relates to packaging for artificial fingernails, wherein the package, or kit, allows a potential purchaser to see the product fingernails clearly while the fingernails remain in the package prior to purchase. It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a package for the distribution, retail display and retail sale of artificial fingernails that provides an easy way for the consumer to sample or “try on” the artificial fingernails contained in the package while the fingernails remain in the package prior to purchase.
Artificial fingernails are generally used for the purpose of cosmetic enhancement. They may be applied by a technician or manicurist in a fingernail salon, or may be purchased in a variety of different packages at retail stores and applied directly by the wearer. Users of artificial fingernails include, for example, individuals seeking to hide a cracked or chipped natural fingernail, or those who simply find it difficult to grow healthy natural nails to the length they desire. In addition, artificial fingernails are often employed by individuals seeking to deter a habit of nail biting, and by those who simply desire to have low maintenance nails that are easy to apply and remove in response to changing daily needs.
Currently, there are many different types of artificial fingernails (“nails”) that are well known. Different types of artificial nails include, for example, sculptured nails, acrylic nails, gel nails, nail wraps, pre-glued self-adhesive nails, nail tips and full-cover nails, with each type of nail having different benefits and drawbacks that are also generally well known.
In order to maximize comfort, ease of application, and durability on the wearer's finger, it is desirable that the artificial fingernails (“nails”) to be used fit a user's natural fingernails properly. Given this need for proper fit, nails are produced and generally available in a variety of different sizes, shapes and styles to match the individual needs of a user. Nevertheless, the nails that a user may find in available packaging are often not adequate to provide the user with a properly-fitting nail for each of the user's natural fingernails.
Traditionally, packages have been sold containing ten or more nails. The nails sold in these conventional retail packages generally vary in size (e.g., width), and there are typically multiple nails of each size so that a user may preferably find in the package a nail of proper size for each natural fingernail. Among the nails of a particular size, however, the nails are typically identical in shape.
Given that a user's natural fingernails are likely to vary not only in size but also in shape, the collection of nails provided in such conventional artificial fingernail packages may not provide the wearer with a proper-fitting nail for each finger. Even in instances where there is some variation in shape among the nails in a package as the nails vary in size, the relatively-uniform shape available for each of the sizes may not provide a satisfactory fit for each of the user's natural fingernails. As a result, one or more of the user's natural fingernails may be left without a proper-fitting artificial nail, forcing the user either to apply improperly-fitting nails to some of her natural fingernails, or to purchase a separate package of artificial fingernails containing nails having different shapes for a given size.
Another problem associated with conventional packages for nails is that they generally include a plurality of loosely-contained nails, or nails attached to a sprue, such that various features (e.g., size and shape) of the nails are hidden from the consumer prior to the opening of the package. As a result, consumers of artificial fingernails cannot compare the size and shape of the included nails in a conventional package to the size and shape of the user's natural fingernails, and thus cannot determine prior to purchasing and opening the package whether or not the nails will fit properly. Consequently, potential users often have no choice but to purchase the package containing the nails before the nails can be adequately inspected (e.g., compared to the various sizes and shapes of the user's natural fingernails). Often, this results in a user purchasing nails that are not suitable given the sizes and shapes of the user's natural fingernails.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide packaging for nails that is capable of storing and displaying a collection of individual nails of varying size and shape such that each of a user's natural fingernails may be lifted with an artificial fingernail of the right size and shape.
It would also be desirable to provide packaging for artificial fingernails that includes nails having, for each nail size, a variety of nail shapes.
It would also be desirable to provide packaging for artificial fingernails that allows a user to examine the features (e.g., color, size and shape) of one or more of the included nails and to optionally compare such features to the features of the user's natural fingernails.
In particular, it would be desirable to provide a user with an artificial fingernail package that allows the user to “try on” one or more of the nails without removing any of the nails from the package.